No favorable effect of reduced tillage on microbial communities in a silty loam soil (Belgium)

To date, only a few studies have applied metagenomics to investigate the influence of different tillage regimes and types of crop residue management on soil microbial communities. These studies were conducted under specific climates on soils characterized by particular land-use histories. A very different ecological context is to be found in certain areas of Western Europe, such as central Belgium, whose loess-derived soils are among the most fertile in the world and have long been used for intensive agriculture.
Specific objectives were to determine diversity levels and changes in microbial community composition under different combinations of tillage regime (conventional vs. reduced) and crop residue fate (residue removal R- vs. residues left R+ on the field). As reduced tillage results in two contrasting zones (the first centimeters of soil are mixed each year, while the soil below remains unperturbed), we chose to perform the analysis at two depths: 0 to 5 cm and 15 to 20 cm.